Loče (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 4: ''Štajersko''. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 50.) is a settlement in the

Municipality of Slovenske Konjice The Municipality of Slovenske Konjice ( or ; ) is a municipality in the traditional region of Styria in northeastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Slovenske Konjice. Slovenske Konjice became a municipality in 1994. Geogr ...

in eastern

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. It lies on the left bank of the Dravinja River. The area is part of the traditional region of

Styria Styria ( ; ; ; ) is an Austrian Federal states of Austria, state in the southeast of the country. With an area of approximately , Styria is Austria's second largest state, after Lower Austria. It is bordered to the south by Slovenia, and cloc ...

. The municipality is now included in the

Savinja Statistical Region The Savinja Statistical Region () is a Statistical regions of Slovenia, statistical region in Slovenia. The largest town in the region is Celje. It is named after the Savinja River. The region is very diverse in natural geography; it mainly compr ...

Name

The name of the settlement was changed from ''Loče'' to ''Loče pri Poljčanah'' in 1955. The name ''Loče'' was restored in 1999. In the past it was known as ''Heiligengeist in Loče'' in German.

History

On 20 June 1892 work started on a

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

(760 mm)

steam railroad Various terms are used for passenger railway lines and equipment; the usage of these terms differs substantially between areas: Rapid transit A rapid transit system is an electric railway characterized by high speed (~) and rapid acceleratio ...

line called ''Konjičanka'' from

Poljčane Poljčane () is a settlement in northeastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Poljčane. It lies 35 km south of Maribor and 35 km northeast of Celje. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The town lies in t ...

to Slovenske Konjice, with a station in Loče. The line was opened on 20 December 1892, and on 29 June 1921 it was extended to

Zreče Zreče (; ) is a town in northeast Slovenia and is the seat of the Municipality of Zreče. It lies on the slopes of Pohorje in the upper valley of the Dravinja River. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now included in th ...

. It was closed in 1963, and the tracks were removed in 1970.

Church

The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

in the settlement is dedicated to the

Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit, otherwise known as the Holy Ghost, is a concept within the Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is understood as the divine quality or force of God manifesting in the world, particularly in acts of prophecy, creati ...

and belongs to the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Maribor The Archdiocese of Maribor (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Slovenia. Its episcopal see is Maribor. History * 1859 : Maribor (then Marburg) became the see of the Diocese of Lavant * ...

. It is a 15th-century church that was extended in the 17th century and restyled in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style in the 18th century.Slovenian Ministry of Culture register of national heritage
reference number ešd 3111

References

External links

Loče on Geopedia
Populated places in the Municipality of Slovenske Konjice {{SlovenskeKonjice-geo-stub